Weekend Rehab: At-Home (or at the Beach!) Spray Tan

By
Dawn Davis

Jul 18, 2011

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I do my best to stay out of the sun (very True Blood of me, right?), and when I'm outside, I wear a hat and slather on a high SPF—and I reapply constantly. There are more than a few reasons for this: I burn easily, I'm paranoid about wrinkles, skin cancer is a real thing—but I also love being pale. There are so many gorgeous, porcelain-skinned celebs (Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel, Nicole Kidman), so why would I want to be tan? Well...there is the swimsuit issue.

Oh a whim, I headed out to the beach on Saturday and the only swimsuit I could dig up was pretty skimpy. And it was white. Instead of freaking out and grabbing a full-length kaftan to hide in (I was tempted), I tossed a can of Bliss A Tan for All Seasons into my bag. When I got to the beach, I layered on an excessive amount of this citrus-scented self-tanner right over my SPF 80. (The key is to use a spray tanner over a spray sunscreen—creams are usually too thick.) Although the color takes a a few hours to develop, it also contains a dark, shimmery bronzer—it gave me an instant glow and also helped ensure that I didn't end up with splotchy, streaky skin. I rinsed my hands in the ocean (there's nothing worse than tell-tale tan palms) and situated myself underneath a giant umbrella for the rest of the afternoon. I even felt pretty good about my white bikini situation, which I somehow managed to keep white with very careful spraying.

By the end of the day, I was tanner than I'd ever been (even though I'd continued to reapply my sunscreen every hour)—and the color was warm and real-looking. This is definitely my new favorite—and it's surprisingly great for every skin tone.